As printing technology continues to be progressively robust, efforts are made to develop a printer that meets a wide range of printing needs. The technology used to implement printers is versatile and capable of implementing a variety of printing techniques. Consequently, printers with a wide range of operational modes can be developed to provide a number of printing options that should meet most needs of the printer's customer base. Not only does a printer have to satisfy these needs, but it also should perform its tasks in a user friendly manner. Therefore, the customer interface can be as important a component of a printer as the technology employed to generate the printed output.
The downside of implementing a multitude of printing options in a single machine is the customer's limited ability to understand the differences in the various operational modes and which modes best meet their needs. The value offered by multiple printing modes can be offset by the complexity of multiple modes. Customers generally perceive printers that have four or more operational modes as not being user friendly. This perception arises from the need to consult a written manual to understand the various differences in the modes and, sometimes, a trial and error approach of using the various modes to understand what the manual means. For example, in one type of a solid ink printer, the photo mode is used to generate photograph quality images. One by-product of this operational mode is its relatively quiet operation. Consequently, a user seeking a quieter environment may select the photo mode. This selection, however, also results in an increased cost per page generated because the photo images contain more ink. Memorizing the ramifications for a mode selection or consulting with a user manual to understand them is not perceived well by customers.